


Cheese

by MaddieWrites



Series: Random Encounters [5]
Category: Random Encounters: Resident Enis (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, No beta reader we die like idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-19 18:30:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19978582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieWrites/pseuds/MaddieWrites
Summary: Mark has always had nightmares, which he handles quite well thank you. But when the apocalypse throws a wrench in the works, the nightmares get worse.





	Cheese

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I called it “Cheese” even though cheese has nothing to do with the plot of the story and is only mentioned once. What are you going to do about it?

Mark had nightmares sometimes, yeah. It was a bit of a flaw, and it gave him some trouble, but he wasn’t ashamed of it. He used to have the worst nightmares as a kid, but he could always run to his parents bed for comfort, so they weren’t all that debilitating. All kids had nightmares, and his were no different. Maybe a little more vivid, sending him sprinting down the hall to his parent’s room for protection. His mom would hold him and tell him that there was nothing here to hurt him, then take him back to his bed and give him a massage until he fell back asleep. That had made it manageable, as the comfort of ones parents often made things manageable as a child. 

But then things changed. Mark graduated and went off to college. He was a grown adult, on his own without anyone to calm him down in the middle of the night. The nightmares were nothing to be afraid of, he knew, but his ridiculous inability to function after one was becoming a problem. Still, Mark learned to manage it alright. He got some weighted blankets, which helped immeasurably when trying to fall asleep after a nightmare. He put a glass of water and a small, light snack beside his bed each night. He knew it wasn’t good to eat cheese at one in the morning, but it helped once he’d calmed down to have something to do that didn’t require light, and this was his solution. So yeah, Mark was handling the problem quite nicely. 

After college, the nightmares kind of settled down. For a while, he was so stressed he was barely sleeping in the first place, leaving little room for any nightmares to take place. After that, things were just kind of okay. They just stopped. He was fine for years, but naturally this is when they would spike again.

This was the apocalypse, where everyone Mark knew was dead. There were no parents to run to, and his weighted blankets were left behind when monsters chased him out of his home. He didn’t have the luxury of massages or snacks; he was lucky to have all his limbs, and to eat twice a day. But the nightmares persisted.  
Mark would wake up gasping, trying to balance how scared he was with trying not to wake Dodger. He just wanted to run to her, cling to her, hear her say it would be okay, just once. He knew the situation sucked, but not being able to sleep, and being terrified day in and day out was no life. Dodger made things fun, helped him enjoy as many of his numbered days as possible. He didn’t always appreciate it, but she had the right attitude. Still, even she couldn’t cheer him up anymore. He was so tired that he snapped at her regularly, scaring them both. He was just so angry all the time, left drained from rough nights filled with terror. 

Then they met Enis. Their team had been picked off, one by one. And now Mike was on his way out too. All they could do was make him comfortable and watch the life drain out of him. And this annoying vampire twat wasn’t helping at all. He was making a joke out of the death of one of Mark’s teammates. Still, they needed numbers, and Enis could make a great addition to the team as a natural born hunter, so Mike was left behind, and Enis came along. 

And the nightmares set in, just like they always did. Mark missed his home, his room, his weighted blankets. He missed little snacks of grapes or cheese that he could just have whenever he wanted. He missed his carefree life, where his nightmares contained things like burglars, and health problems. Now they were so much worse. The monsters they faced daily were literal nightmare fuel, worsening the dreams tenfold. It was awful, and sometimes he woke clamping a hand down over his mouth to muffle his own screams. Yet Dodger was still oblivious to it. 

She and Enis cuddled sometimes, and Mark couldn’t express in words how much he longed to join them. But he couldn’t. They had boundaries for a reason, and that would be him overstepping them, but Mark was starting to wonder who’s boundaries they were; his or hers. In the end, it didn’t matter, because he couldn’t cuddle with them. 

Mark knew deep down that the reason he was always moving, always hunting, always scouting was so that he wouldn’t think. If he started thinking, he would realize how hopeless this was, and that was dangerous. He avoided downtime, avoided physical contact because that could make it real, and he knew he would break down. He was the backbone of the team of misfits, the glue that kept them together. The glue couldn’t just start crying during hugs. So he avoided them, and tried not to think.

Then, one night, it all changed. The nightmare wasn’t about him being torn apart this time, or watching his friends and family who were long gone burn. This time, it was Dodger and Enis who fell victim to the usual torment, and Mark woke up screaming. And he didn’t get his hand over his mouth in time. 

Naturally, Dodger and Enis woke up, and they quickly fell into a panic. It took them a minute to realize they were awake because Mark had screamed, and another minute to find the light switch and turn it on, as this building still had power. Then the pair came rushing over, asking what was going on, was there a threat, was Mark hurt? He choked out that it was only a nightmare, and then burst into tears, burying his face in his hands in a vain attempt to hide them. 

It took another moment for his friends to react. He felt the bed dip, and Dodger maneuvered him so he was laying back against her. They were cuddling, Mark realized; she was holding him. It was an undertone more than a thought. A little light clicking on under layers of thick fog, telling him that his friends were going to die brutal deaths. 

“I’m right here.” She soothed. “I’m okay, Enis is okay, we’re all okay.”

Mark clung to her, just like he’d longed to do since the very first nightmare. He heard the light click off, and felt Enis press up against his back. They were okay. 

“That’s right. We’re all safe right now. It’s time for sleep.” Dodger smiled. She let Mark cling to her until he fell asleep, and for a long time after that, because he woke up in her arms, held protectively by Enis. It was proof that last night happened, that their comfort wasn’t a dream. 

Dodger woke up before he could overthink it, and they decided to talk about it. So Mark told them everything, about his chronic nightmares as a child, managing them through college, their sudden departure, and then sudden reappearance years later. They listened quietly, offering gentle touches when he needed them, until he was done talking.

“You could’ve told us, and this would’ve happened sooner. Now we can help you manage them, but you don’t have to hide this sort of thing. You’re allowed to be scared.” Dodger told him.

That was all true, and Mark suspected he had some soul searching to do later, but right now, they had to get out of this place before something found them. 

“And Mark, if you think we’re ever sleeping in separate beds again, you’re wrong. Enis and I will be there to protect you from the nightmares, that’s a promise.” She smiled.

“Is it a promise or a threat?” Mark asked, but the unspoken words still rang out as clear as a bell.

Thank you.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it! Feel free to leave kudos or a comment if you did! Sorry again about the cheese thing.


End file.
